Ragen Chastain provides tips for navigating comments rooted in weight stigma and diet culture during the holiday season and year-round, including how to uphold boundaries and respond to surprises.

large gowns and seatbelt extenders (and rainbow umbrellas!)

Cool idea, but why do fat people charge so much money for everything they try to build? There’s already a fat tax on every aspect of our lives... and communities should be FREE. Or at least free for access to some features.

I’m tired of people monetizing fat liberation.

“Being fat doesn't mean you deserve to die.
Fatness is not a declaration that your life, your safety, and your rights are subsequently voided.

The crux of this image is that if you REALLY cared about your body and staying alive, you'd be thin. But seeing as you're fat, others have permission to forgo the life saving / virus preventing measure of wearing a mask during a pandemic near you. Let me be clear, there is no weight or size in which we (fat people) should be stripped of our rights and safety. Suggesting otherwise is a violent act of fatphobia.

Really consider how dehumanizing this image is and what messages it reinforces about fat rights. Consider how normalizing this messaging impacts the ways we treat fat people, the ways we treat them in workplaces, in doctors offices and on the street. I want you to hear my breath catch in my throat as I am forced into telling you

I DO NOT CARE HOW FAT SOMEONE IS, THEY ARE STILL A HUMAN BEING
THEY STILL DESERVE COMPASSION AND DECENCY
AND THE FACT SOMEONE FELT THIS WAS A HOT TAKE ON "HEALTH" MAKES ME SICK”

Diet culture is racist.